The Pella basketball teams played host to Indianola Tuesday evening in Little Hawkeye Conference action, and fell in a sweep to the Indians as the Lady Dutch fell 60-46, and the Pella boys could not finish off a comeback effort, falling 87-85.

The Pella girls held a 10-7 lead after a sluggish start by both teams. It was all Indians in the second quarter. Indianola went on a 17-0 run and held the Lady Dutch scoreless for the entire period, and Pella trailed 21-10 at the half. Pella put together a strong effort in the third, but Indianola was able to stave off every scoring run the Dutch went on, and closed out the victory in the fourth.

The pressure applied in the paint by the Indianola defense held Pella’s leading scorer, Madison Naig, to just three points on the evening. Big nights from Faith Diers and Anna Vander Waal helped to offset the lost scoring, as the duo led the way with 17 and 13 points, respectively. Pella falls to 8-8 overall and 5-4 in the conference.

The Pella boys fell behind early, but mounted a major comeback effort in the second half. The Little Dutch trailed 44-31 at the half, but rattled off the first 13 points of the third quarter to get right back in it. A strong finish to the third gave Pella a 59-56 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

The Little Dutch built up a 78-68 lead with just over four minutes to play, with help from this shot from Karl Miller, who came in off the bench.

Three consecutive threes by the Indians got it back to a one-point game almost immediately. An and-one in the final minute allowed the Indians to tie it up at 82, and eventually it was a 7-0 run to put Indianola up 86-82 with 17 seconds remaining. Indianola seemingly had the game put away, but Grant Nelson was fouled on a made three with 3.6 seconds remaining, giving him a chance to tie the game with a made free throw. His free throw was missed, Indianola hit a free throw at the other end, and a desperation shot by John Oltman was barely missed at the buzzer, as the Indians escaped with the win. Head Coach Derek Schulte says that while he was proud of his team’s response in the second half, it still takes a complete 32 minutes to beat a team of Indianola’s caliber.

Logan Shetterly dominated with 32 points, Karl Miller knocked in 16 off the bench, and John Oltman added 11.

Pella falls to 12-3 overall and 6-3 in the conference. Up next for the Dutch is a home doubleheader against Norwalk on Friday.

Tags: